A Winter Ride from Snow to Palm Trees
By: Stephen Corke
I
was a newbie rider and only had one season and one long-haul ride to
the Arctic Circle under my belt, so when winter neared I followed
suit with my fellow bikers and parked my bike permanently for its
hibernation. As the bed sheet settled over the bike and
the garage door slowly lowered there was a sense of accomplishment
and great memories, yet also uneasiness and a season that shouldn’t
and couldn’t be finished yet?
Snow on the ground
and over two months gone by without even thinking about motorbikes,
my father started the ranting about moving my bike, a very large
Suzuki V-Strom 650, out of his already crowded garage. I
realized the bike had to be moved to my even smaller outdoor car
shelter that was already occupied by my girl friends car. I
started watching the weather forecasts and road conditions, looking
for an opening to ride my bike 7 km to my place along the now snow
covered streets. I saw one or two days in each week where the
road conditions were ride able. Checking the salt covered pavement
with my rubber soled sneakers, I found much traction.
The spark was
ignited in me and in mid December my riding season was back in full
force. I thought if I could ride 7 km in December why couldn’t
I ride 2,900 km in February? With the new holiday
‘Family Day’ on Monday February 16, 2009, I would only need to take
four days off work to create a nine-day motorbike trip. And, I
figured if I was planning on going south, I might as well ride to
the southern most point of the United States, Key West, Florida,
which would more then likely also be the hottest destination.
First thing first
was to convince my father that I needed his garage a little longer
for getting the bike back in ‘adventure riding’ shape. With a
quick assessment, I made a mental note of what parts I needed and
what extras I wanted for this trip. Since I had totaled both
of my side cases during the summer Arctic Circle ride, I would need
a cheap alternative for storing my gear. I didn’t have the
cash available to fork out $600 for brand new side cases, so I went
online and came upon two aluminum diamond tread tool boxes (24 x
8.25 x 10.25 in). They looked kind of like side cases so I
ordered them for under $150. With a little trouble bolting
them onto the side-case mounts and after sawing off the handles to
stop any vibrating noise, I finally was in business for storing all
my gear.
Next up, I had
decided that since I would be freezing my ass off during this trip,
I might as well be as comfortable as possible. I ordered a gel
buffalo haired seat and highway pegs and I must say my legs and ass
thanked me for this afterwards. A quick change of the oil,
tightening of chain and clutch and it started to feel like it was
summer again tinkering with the bike on the driveway. Except
it wasn’t, instead there was an electric heater on high beside me
and I could still see my breath.
Lastly I checked the
treads on my tires and realized the front tire had to be replaced.
Calling around and trying to order a motorbike tire during winter is
not an easy task, I must admit. With much luck, Parker Bros
said they could get me a new tire within the week and to bring the
bike by on Saturday. I was pumped to think I would be back on
the bike and riding again even though it was only going to be for a
short 5 km to the shop.
Saturday came fast
and when driving over to my folks place to grab the bike, I came to
a depressing conclusion that the ice and snow on the road was not
going to allow me to ride the bike to the shop. I was very
disappointed and worried that this could be the same situation on my
departure date in a couple of weeks. I tried not to think
about it and shoveled the snow off the trailer and tailored the bike
to the motorbike shop.
With a new front
tire and the departure date only a week away, the nerves were
kicking in and the excitement was building. And so were the
jitters since the weather was stormy and friends were not very
supportive about me doing this trip. The big question from
everyone was “How are you going to ride to Key West Florida in the
middle of winter when you can’t even ride your motorbike to the
shop?” I didn’t have an answer for this, but I did have a
feeling that kept pushing me forward.
Departure Day - Saturday February 14th, 2009
Coincidentally my
departure date fell on Valentines Day. This was the first
Valentines Day with my girl friend Jenny, so in order to keep in the
good books, I had purchased a dozen roses the day before and made
her a beautiful creative card. And, on this card I wrote “11
roses for not just any girl; 1 rose rides to the Key’s to complete
the dozen, come get it Babe!” I placed the 11 roses and
card in our weight room, for Jenny to find later that day. I
then slipped away into the 4:00 AM bitterly cold morning air and
drove my car over to the folk’s place where my bike awaited my
arrival.
Long underwear
pants, a pair of socks, another pair of socks, jeans, rain pants,
all weather motorbike pants, long underwear shirt, t-shirt, turtle
neck, wool sweater, leather jacket, rain jacket, all weather cordura
motorcycle jacket, wool neck guard, bandana, balaclava, thin gloves,
deer skin mittens, heated insoles and summer motorcycle boots
covered with a modified winter slipper to save some money.
Never have I taken
so long to get dressed. I looked like a marshmallow man to say
the least and felt like a furnace. I knew the sweat dripping
down my forehead and back was not going to feel good once I hit the
road. The outside temperature was at minus 8 degrees Celsius,
not to mention an unimaginable wind chill that would be created once
I got on the highway. I was trying not to think about the cold
to come. Instead I was extremely relieved that it wasn’t
snowing in Toronto and the roads were relatively clear of ice.
The stars were shining bright overhead, yet I had thanked the
Heavens slightly too soon.
Turning on the
computer and viewing the online weather forecast for the Great Lakes
region it showed that Windsor and Erie were currently being dumped
on with snow! This was now cutting off two of my preferred
routes, the I-75 South and the I-79 South. I was not
impressed. Both of these routes would have allowed me to cross
the Appalachian mountain range in the southern warmer States and
been the safest way of travel on a motorbike. Looking over the
weather map I finally saw a route that was relatively clear skies
with only 20% chance of flurries. Good enough for me!
The route was to the Niagara/Buffalo border, southeast through New
York to Pennsylvania, south to the I-95 in Virginia, then continuing
along the I-95 south to Florida. The only worry of this
way was the un-maintained farm roads in New York, not to mention I
would be entering the Appalachian mountain range in the northern
state of Pennsylvania and inevitably be exposed to colder, icier
conditions.
I had come this far
and was not turning back now. I put the rose in my jacket
pocket and swung my leg over my motorbike. Turning the key the
engine ignited instantly as if it had never been in a winter sleep.
As the automatic garage door opened, I twisted the throttle and the
bike shot out of its resting place and back onto the open road.
The exhaust fumes trailed behind with a distinctive nature. It
was as though all my worries and tensions had dissipated now that I
was riding again. The residential streets were quiet with
everyone still sleeping in their warm beds and a feeling of calmness
over took me, yet this was short lived.
80, 90, 100, 110,
120 KM/H, I merged onto the highway and was quickly going to see if
my many layers of clothing would hold up to the freezing air ripping
into me. A heart stopping stream of wind shot through to my
neck and up across my face. I couldn’t say that I wasn’t
expecting this to a certain extent, yet it really caught me off
guard. I estimated that there was ‘only’ 1,000 km of riding
before I was above the freezing mark, so I didn’t have time to
bitch.
As the sun came up
over the horizon I arrived at the Canada/USA border just outside of
Buffalo. There was a short line up of vehicles, with many eyes
looking at me in shock and wonder. Riding up to the border
station, the officer said he needed to check his vision because he
hadn’t seen a motorbike in over three months. I laughed and
said “You probably won’t see one for another two months.” With
a quick explanation of where I was headed, the officer let me pass
with a sarcastic “Good luck!”
After almost two
hours of riding, I pulled over to call Jenny and let her know I was
still breathing and now in the United States. I had to remove
my helmet and mittens to use my cell phone. This was a big
mistake… The winter air took advantage of my exposed head and
ate away at any body heat that I was still producing. The sweat
from earlier that morning had made my clothes damp, which now was
further stripping me of any warmth I still latched on to. < I
know what you’re thinking, that I brought this on myself. >
Needless to say it
was a short conversation with a quick “Hi, I’m alive” and a reminder
for Jenny to check the weight room. I put away my cell phone
and instantly put back on my helmet and mittens in hopes this would
stop me from shivering. Having my legs around the warm engine
again made me realize I wasn’t going to be able to stop and site see
very much the first day of riding. My objective now was a very
determined one; Ride Hard, Ride Long and Ride Fast! I needed
to escape the winter temperatures as fast as possible, for I knew my
body was now in a constant battle to keep warm.
Glancing westbound I
noticed the storm system that had been forecasted and was somewhat
relieved to know that every second that passed I rode further away.
Following my GPS unit I came upon a variety of two-lane farm roads
that meandered throughout a now hilly landscape. While this
was the ‘fastest route’ I was starting to question if this was the
smartest route. Hay mixed with snow was dragged onto the road
where tractors had pulled out from their driveways. Over a
foot of snow was less then six feet from either side of my
motorbike. I was riding south, yet there was an accumulation
of much more snow the further I rode into the state of New York.
Gripping my bike
tightly with both hands and legs, the tree line came to an end and
the question of, ‘why was I doing this trip?’ got answered.
For as long as my eyes could see in all directions were rolling open
fields, glazed with a thick layer of powdery untouched snow.
Shooting up from the virgin snow were several large motionless
windmills that looked surprisingly native to the land. For
this moment my intense captivation overshadowed any doubts I was
still having about the trip and fueled my mind to press on.
I left the snow
behind in my side mirrors as I rode into the sate of Pennsylvania
and the heart of the Appalachian mountain range. I passed many
signs warning that the, ‘Road May Ice in Winter’, which further
intensified my focus and awareness of my surroundings. Even
though I was now riding south the outside temperature had decreased
significantly as a result of the elevation I was gaining, along with
the sun hiding behind clouds. Lakes, rivers and waterfalls
were all frozen solid.
Mentally and
physically at this point I was in bad shape. My toes and
fingers had gone from painfully cold to now just numb. The
heated insoles had only worked for the first two hours of riding.
I was constantly wiping away frost building up on the inside of my
helmet visor, caused from my warm breath meeting the freezing air.
One mistake or one misjudgment would be catastrophic. There
was not much of a safety net on these roads, with only a small
guardrail separating me from a rocky cliff.
After many hours of
riding I started to notice the mountainous landscape leveling.
In the distance I could see an opening in the sky where the sun was
shining through, encouraging me to keep riding. Every
few kilometers I would feel pockets of warm air masses and this
occurrence was getting more frequent the further I rode. Almost at
the exact moment that I left the Appalachians, the sun struck my
face and the temperature was instantly a few degrees warmer.
It was like getting a reward for completing the most difficult part
of my journey.
I was now in the
state of Virginia and on the I-95 south riding fast. To make
better time and keep my legs warm from the engine, I stayed on my
bike when fueling up. Checking my side mirror I couldn’t help
but smile. A blue sport bike came roaring up my left side,
overtaking me and disappeared into the traffic ahead. This was
the first motorbike I had seen on the journey and I knew it was not
going to be the last.
At around 5 PM I
decided to grab a bite and pulled over at a rest stop. As a
result of my intense determination to get south fast, I had not
eaten anything since 4 AM and I was starting to feel the effects of
it. Checking my side cases I got out my dinner; a granola bar
and banana. It wasn’t much but it was all I needed to keep me
going. There was about an hour left of sunlight and I was not
one for riding in an unfamiliar place during the dark, so the pit
stop didn’t last long.
My body was in no
shape to be camping and luckily my grandfather’s place was only
about a 4-hour ride away, in North Carolina, so I pushed forward as
the sun set over the pine trees. The thought of a warm bed
filled my mind as the temperature began to drop as the darkness
came. Going through the motions I road into the night.
Frequently looking down at the GPS mounted on my tank bag and
watching the kilometers decrease to the final destination for my
first day of riding. 300 km, 200 km, 100 km, 0 km, the GPS
unit voiced out “You Have Reached Your Destination.”
Pulling into my Grandfathers gravel driveway in Pinehurst, NC was
such a relief and victory. I had rode 1,409 km that day and it
was the most exhausting and painful day of my motorbiking career.
My grandfather was very welcoming even with my surprise arrival and
set me up with a much-appreciated warm plate of food and a very
comfortable bed. I was fairly certain I had the first signs of
hypothermia as I was having much trouble focusing and being
coherent. My body ached form head to toe, I was mentally
drained and the painful thought of getting on my bike tomorrow
quickly faded away as I fell into a deep sleep.
Day 2 - Sunday
February 15th, 2009
Morning
came fast and I had slept in slightly longer then I would have
liked, yet I knew I had needed a good sleep. There was a lot
of riding to do today and thankfully it was a beautiful sunny day,
and around 8 degrees Celsius outside! With the smell of the
pine needles in the air, the birds chirping, and the cherry blossoms
in full bloom, I completely forgot about how much pain I was in the
previous night. It was like I had fast tracked through winter
right into spring. I jammed my all weather motorbike jacket and
pants into my back case, and stuffed my winter slippers and mittens
into my knapsack. It was great! And finally what I like to call,
good riding weather. Saying goodbye to my Grandfather
with many thanks, I took off towards South Carolina.
Not far into the day
I met some locals at the gas station that were curious about my bike
and they felt it was a little too early in the season to bring out
their bikes. I smiled and said this weather felt like heaven
to me. For the first time on this journey many bugs started
splattering on my windshield. I normally would find this to be
a nuisance, yet this time I rather enjoyed witnessing it and knowing
that the winter weather was behind me.
I road fast
alongside farmers fields that were green with new life, saw much
wildlife scurrying from the roadside, and shortly re-connected back
onto the I-95 south. I had no time to enjoy the sun since I
was running behind schedule, so I was riding over-time through South
Carolina along the fast interstate. While the landscape
was rather flat, the vegetation around me was starting to change
My stomach started
to grumble so I pulled over just north of the Florida border.
I parked the bike outside of Denny’s and took out the sandwiches my
Grandfather had kindly made for me. Enjoying the warmth and
homemade lunch, I looked over and saw something that was truly
uplifting. A palm tree! I had done it; a winter ride
from snow to palm trees. This was the first sign of the
tropical climate to come and was a very motivating site to see.
Riding further and
further south I noticed more and more palm trees. I entered
into Florida without even realizing it, due to the rainy weather I
was encountering. Florida was supposed to be the sunshine
state of America, yet it kept raining. But I wasn’t
complaining, I would prefer rain any day over snow.
The roads were wet
and the night came fast. I was not willing to pitch a tent in
a dark wet campsite, so I pulled off the I-95 and into a motel.
I was 200 km from Miami and I had rode 1,007 km today. My body
needed a bed. I was too comfortable last night to have
anything but the same for tonight; especially knowing I would be
tenting the entire time in Key West, Florida. I fell
asleep in a great mood, knowing I’d be picking Jenny up from the Key
West airport tomorrow evening.
Day 3 - Monday February 16th, 2009
I woke up early not
even needing my cell phone alarm. It was around 20 degrees
Celsius this morning and gorgeous. The clouds had blown over
during the night and most of the puddles had evaporated. There
was no need to wear any of my winter riding gear today. With
my back and side cases already completely full, I had to bungee the
remainder of my winter gear to my passenger seat. It felt like
summer had arrived. It was a day to take in and enjoy.
Riding onto the
Florida Turnpike I came across the first tolls of the journey and
reluctantly paid. I had my sunglasses on and my visor up as I
anxiously rode on in anticipation of seeing the Ocean. There
were palm trees in every direction as I pulled over to check my tire
pressure. When I had left Toronto, I had the tire pressure low
for better traction on the winter roads. I thought since I was
in Florida it would be a good time to increase the pressure to limit
the tread loss on the hot asphalt. When I checked the back and
front tire pressure I was somewhat stumped. Both tires had
increased in pressure by about 5 PSI. How could this be?
Well, now I know the answer, so let me explain. When traveling
from a really cold to really hot place the air expands and increases
the PSI. I’m guessing most of you already knew this, but for
me at the time, it was really weird.
I felt like I was on
the last lap of the trip as I entered into the north end of the
Florida Key’s. There were many bikers on the road now and to
my surprise not wearing helmets. I saw that Jenny had text
messaged me a few hours prior from Toronto airport. It read
‘I’m at the Airport! Yah! See you soon babe!’ Just to clarify
I’m ‘babe’. Everything was starting to come together,
yet I had little time to daydream.
I was
extremely hot and had to take off even more clothes to minimize the
sweating. I loved what felt like 30 degree Celsius weather.
And I hate to use this word, but it was AWESOME! I was only a couple
hours from Key West. I could smell the ocean before I could
see it. But when I rode the bike over the first bridge
into the Key’s and saw the Gulf of Mexico to my right and the
Atlantic Ocean to my left, I was amazed. The sun reflecting
off the salt water producing so many variations and mixes of deep
blues and greens that even for myself who is colour blind, was still
very impressed. There were shark and crocodile crossing signs
along with many very exotic looking birds. I was in the heart
of the Florida Keys and enjoying every minute of it.
When
I crossed the Seven Mile Bridge with open Ocean on either side of
me, I couldn’t help thinking about the scene from ‘True Lies’ with
Arnold yelling ‘The Bridge is OUT!!!’ I lost track of how many
motorbikes I was seeing now, with most waving or nodding to me with
a sign of acceptance. I was almost there and I was doing mini
squats on my foot pegs to give my ass a break. There was no
time to relax yet, for I had to pick Jenny up at the Key West
airport.
I
arrived at Boyd’s Campground, Key West Florida one hour before
Jenny’s arrival time, and to modestly put it, I was feeling good.
Today was a shorter yet very memorable ride of 455 km. The
campsite was 5 feet from the ocean and had a million dollar view.
Almost from the second I had parked the bike, my camping neighbor
was offering me a fresh piece of mahi-mahi that he had caught
fishing early that day. I couldn’t have asked for a better
setting to finish my journey.
With little time to
spare I set up my small two-person tent and took off to the Airport,
only a short ride away. I was outside Key West airport waiting
for Jenny to arrive and I don’t know why but I was a little nervous.
I got out the now withered looking rose and had it ready to give
Jenny.
Before I knew it,
Jenny was walking out of the airport and I was running over to her.
I had anticipated this one moment for so long and once it occurred
time stood still. It was a kiss that was the perfect
conclusion to a trip that was so tiring, so painful, so freaking
cold, so much work, so mentally strenuous, and finally so satisfying
in so many different ways. And yes, she loved the rose and I
scored many points. J
After a well earned
three day vacation in Key West, Jenny flew back to Toronto and I
made the return ride back home. A snowstorm throughout the
upper States and southern Ontario forced me to store my bike in
Knoxville, Tennessee and take a bus back, where I now am eagerly
planning my next ride. Vegas anyone?
Thankfully I
videotaped the ride and posted it to view online at
www.KeyWestClutch.com
otherwise nobody would have believed me.
Cheers & Safe
Riding,
Steve